Dave Karofsky released a sigh of relief as his father finally turned the car up the drive after the four hours by car journey bring to an end his mother's equally long speech in what to say and what not to say and how to behave. Essentially all she had cleared him to say was that school was fine and that he was studying hard on his SATs that would be coming up. There was to be no mentioning the recent, if temporary, disciplinary action. Paul Karofsky put the car in park and the family began to gather what they had brought. His five year old brother practically bounded out of the booster seat as soon as Dave had released him, barely taking time to notice their grandmother who had come out of the house to greet them. The seventeen year old climbed out of the family and was immediately pulled into a hug by the older woman whispering familiar words into his ear, which he returned, surprised to find the smile wasn't as forced as he had expected. She gave him a look that told him they would be talking one on one later, and his smile faltered as he caught sight of the figure in the window.

"I'm gonna stretch my legs for a little." He told his father who nodded, and his grandmother smiled knowing where he was headed.

"I'll have someone call your cell when dinner's ready. It's your year to say the Christmas grace." She informed him. He had almost forgotten that little tradition and his smile became forced as he turned and made his way to the collection of trees behind her house.

Stuffing his glove covered hands into his pockets he trekked a couple of minutes and over a fallen tree before he heard the snapping of twigs behind him, informing that he was not alone. His stalker didn't say anything even after he climbed into the old tree house over looking the now frozen creek. Dave sat on the ledge allowing his legs to dangle over the side and waited until his company took their seat beside him.

"How's Kurt?" He asked quietly.

"Not that you have much of a right to ask."

"Blaine." Dave gave a slight glare.

"...But its good to see you still have some heart. He's doing good. He's happy. He's safe. He's..."

"Okay." The McKinley high student interrupted. "I get it."

"He's talked about you a couple a time, using his favorite term of endearment: Neanderthal, and commenting on you inability to process the English language."

This tid-bit of information didn't surprise Dave and he didn't react much because he was sure he deserved as much, if not worse.

"He doesn't know? No one knows? Or remembers, do they?" Blaine asked, "I mean hell, there's several words I have trouble with and English is my first language..." Paused only momentarily to adjust the scarf around his neck, "But Kurt still think that you're just stupid, so your secret is still safe." No response. "No need to thank me."

The silence enveloped them as the agreement passed wordlessly between them to temporarily, at least, drop the subject of Kurt Hummel.

"I remember," Blaine's voice cut through whatever thoughts the athlete was trying to lose himself in to avoid talking, "When they told me I would be getting a new cousin my own age. I remember how excited everyone was that you were coming from near where Grandma and Grandpa grew up." Blaine could see his cousin's face harden, but he simply looked down at his own hands and continued, "That summer, we were ten, you had only been in the country for what, a couple of months? They set us loose on these woods immediately and you were so excited about a bunch of trees. You started shouting words and sentences I only had vague recollection of Baba saying, but we figured it out between your broken English and me correcting it every ten seconds." He let out a nostalgic laugh, and there was a relief to see Dave's face had softened.

"Then it was lunch time, and you spent the whole time talking with Baba in Russian and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. And I was so jealous of you. Then you spent the rest of the summer studying so you could be in the same grade as me when you started school, because you wanted to be in class with a friend. I was so jealous that by the time Christmas had rolled around, and you got to say the grace when it was supposed to have been my turn I may have incorrectly corrected your words..."

Dave finally found his voice, "You told me that 'son of a bitch' was another term for Jesus."

"So, I was a little mean."

"I couldn't sit for the rest of the night, and you got to pick two of my presents."

"Yet, you never ratted me out."

There was a little more silence. Before Blaine returned to the memories, "School you would always stand up for me when I got picked on. Then you stopped, what was it five years ago? It held off for a little while because you were twice everyone's size and they hadn't realized I was fair game again. Then I came out." Dave's face had lost the smile. "Then high school, I transferred to Dalton and you guys moved so that you went to McKinley. You were okay around me as long as we were here. Anywhere in town and you pretended I didn't exist. Then you kissed Kurt Hummel. And pushed me into a chain link fence."

"Yep." Dave agreed with the condensed version of the last five years.

"What it because of that summer? After I came out?" Blaine asked.

"Would you just let it go?" Blaine couldn't almost swear a hint of the accent he knew Dave had spent years trying to hide. "I'm not...I'm not..."

"Is it some weird Russian pride thing that I don't get because I'm only half..." No response. "I don't know why you're scared of telling anyone. Our family is fine with it...I've never had any problems, especially with your parents." There was a flinch that rippled through the letterman jacket. "You know there's not some gay quota, that every family can only have a single gay. Even if there was you don't technically count towards the Karofsky quota...You'd be some other random Russian family's quota-filler..."

"Shut up." Dave's voice echoing through the trees accompanied by the sound of a hand slamming on the side of the tree house silenced him.

"Look, I know," Dave struggles for words when the sound of his little brother come sounding out.

"David! David! Blaine! Can I come up?"

There's barely exchange when they both answer, "No!"

"Why not?" The five year old whines.

"You're too little." Dave responds.

"Am not."

Blaine takes over, "Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

Dave laughs but interruped the argument, because it was starting to get on his nerves. "Buddy, I'll tell you what, if you let us talk right now, I'll bring you up after dinner, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Always. And P.J.?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll talk Baba into letting you open the first present tomorrow."

The kindergartener's eyes widen into saucer's, "Really?"

"Really, dude."

"You're the best big brother in the world." P.J. runs off back towards the house leaving the two older boys sharing a slight laugh as Dave called after him, "Make sure you tell mom and dad that."

"He's a great kid. How old is he now?"

"Five." Dave answers without thinking.

"Wow." Blaine responds after a while.

"What?" The hockey player responds confused at what seems to be some revelation going through his cousin's head, but Blaine finally explains what he just realized, "That's it. He's five. Uncle Paul and Aunt Leah can't have kids so they adopt you, then two years later they can and P.J., Paul Junior, is born. And you're figuring out that you're different, more than just being Russian and adopted...He's their 'real' son, and if you're less then what they expect they might get rid of you." Dave doesn't respond during the ramp, in fact, his face guilty, tells Blaine he might be onto something. "But why take it out on Kurt?"

The Dalton student doesn't expect an answer, he's talking to the kid he once told that American farmers like to sneak into Russian kids' bedrooms at night to cut out their tongues to turn into pastries, on some level he gets it and his stomach drops. Jealousy. He thinks about voicing his opinions, but the cell phone goes off and they're needed to help set up the dinner table. Blaine climbed down first walking ahead continuing the silence as Dave is now the follower. The pairs almost reached the end of the trees when he hears Dave behind him, "Blaine."

He stops and turns, waiting for the continuation.

"I am sorry. For Kurt. For everything."

"Even pushing your cousin into a chain link fence when he was trying to help you?"

"No." The taller deadpanned before he broke out into that weird smile of his, and the accent is back, "That was just payback for my first Christmas here."

"Fair enough." Blaine laughs, though both know Dave is still sorry for that as well, "You know what, though? When you do come out, you should keep the accent. Every one falls for an accent. I'm a sucker for the British or Australian, but I'm sure there's someone out there who goes 'weak in the knees' for a Russian accent."

"Shut up."

I've seen several people go for the only child, or brother died approach but with the fact that Karofsky blanks on some big English words, but according to his dad was a great student, this got stuck in my head. There may be some factual things that may have gotten slightly bending, but we'll just agree to go with alright?

I hope you all enjoy this...and now I can go back to my other fics...until I watch tonight's episode at least.

Well, I hope to here from all of you who read this. And thank you some much for reading this as well as for those of you who have read and reviewed my other 3 Glee Karofsky one-shots.

I own nothing. Not Glee. Not the Title, borrowed from a Keane song title.

Thanks, (and don't forget to review, pretty please with a Kurtofsky on top?)

**Edited: I don't know what happened, but I had edited this thing for like an hour before posting but after one of the reviews I went back and looked...so I'm sorry to who ever read the un-edited copy...***